Last night, reading Roy Andries de Groot’s wonderful The Auberge of the Flowering Hearth (1973), I encountered this sentence: “One can get dozens of other effects with other white wines, mixed with the usual tablespoon per glass (more or less, to taste) of a first quality Crème de Cassis distilled from the black currants of Dijon.”
De Groot’s mention of crème de cassis immediately triggered a personal memory. I found myself transported back to a moment thirty-nine years ago. David, Marion, and I were at the Chateau Laurier’s Canadian Grill. It was my first visit to Ottawa. I was there to argue the appeal of David Benjamin Ford in the Supreme Court of Canada: see Ford v. The Queen [1982] 1 SCR 231.
Marion asked the waiter if we could have champagne with cassis. He said yes. I had no idea what cassis was. Marion explained that it was a black currant liqueur. A few minutes later the waiter returned to our table with three elegant, shimmering, maroon-colored drinks, each garnished with a blackberry. David proposed a toast: To David Benjamin Ford! We clinked glasses and sipped our cocktails, agreeing this was the perfect way to celebrate our arrival in the Capital.
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